Even Though
by bjaarcy
Summary: Shane has a decision to make: should he stay with Reed or try to pick up where he left off with Micah? WARNING: SET IN DALTON BY CP COULTER. Rane/Ranebow with minor Klaine, oneshot/songfic. Rated for mature feelings and very minor swearing.


Uhhhm, hi :D Okay, I'm writing this because, if I don't, I will go nuts. It's basically what _**I'D**_ like to happen in either the next chapter or in a chapter sometime soon in another fanfic called Dalton by CPCoulter. (I highly recommend it btw if you love Klaine and the Dalton aspect of gLee!) So yeah, if you haven't read that fic yet, you should do that first. Like now. Mainly because this will make NO SENSE AT ALL if you haven't. But, it's also a good fic so just read it anyway ;3

ANYYYYYWAYYYYYSSS, so like I said, it's just what _**I'D**_ like to happen in the next chapter (that would be chapter 24, but I find it highly unlikely for it to happen then) or sometime soon in Dalton. Basically, it includes Shane, Reed and Micah and how they're gonna sort out their "situation". In my take of what should happen, Shane stayed in Ohio a few more days after the Valentines' Day Fair and Micah decided to stay with him. And now Shane's days in Ohio are up and he has to decide what's going to happen between him, Micah and Reed. But, of course, Reed wasn't just gonna stand there and possibly have Shane taken away from him – or rather, Kurt wouldn't x3 So, naturally, Kurt tells Reed to sing to Shane what he felt.

Hopefully this'll make more sense once you actually READ the fic. So, enjoy and tell me what you think in your review! :D

NOTE: I have _NO IDEA_ what kind of guy Micah is (mind you, as I write this, Dalton's only up to chapter 23, so Micah's character isn't fully introduced yet). So I'm just gonna go with Micah being a decent guy because Blaine and Shane seem to surround themselves with very nice people. Okay, well, Logan's a different story, but whatever. Also, I hope I've managed to keep the characters as canon as possible! AND LASTLY, I'm including references up to chapter 23, so if you're behind with your Dalton, go read now before I spoil anything!

Disclaimer: I am NOT CPCoulter. Good Lord, if I was, I wouldn't be so terrible at writing then… 8'D Oh, I also don't own Dalton or gLee or the song Reed is about to sing! ;]

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><p>Shane, to keep things simple, was utterly confused.<p>

If you really wanted to know why Shane was so puzzled then consider the following: He was a gay guy who was nearly caught making out with his (ex) boyfriend in his own home and had his own brother rejected by his father since said brother claimed that he was the one having the make out sessions. Due to this, said brother was not attending the same school as Shane anymore, so he visited his brother's school often. During one of these visits, he ended up falling for one of his brother's fellow peers and close friend, Reed. Despite the misunderstandings they often had, Reed and Shane ended up coming to like each other very, _very_ much. And then Shane's ex, Micah, stepped in.

Thinking of his ex, Micah quietly knocked on Shane's bedroom door. Micah was always like that: think of him and he'll appear in the room in the next 5 seconds as if your thoughts summoned him. Micah was aware of his special ability to show up when people thought of him, though he always claimed it was just luck. It was one of the things about Micah Shane was beginning to remember, along with a bunch of others which were the reasons why Shane fell for him in the first place.

Shane sighed and looked around his messy room, exasperated. He remembered the times when he was overjoyed when Micah came into the room whenever Shane thought of him. Now, he always felt awkward whenever it happened. Hard as Shane tried _not_ to think of him though, it was impossible to do so because Shane had to share his family's vacation house in Ohio with Micah these past few days. (And, clearly, when someone is living in the same house as you, you're bound to be thinking about them a few times.) After Rebecca and Erin left to continue their adventures, Micah decided to stay in Ohio with Shane until he had to leave. He wanted to "talk" to Shane, catch up with him with what's been going on in their lives the since… _it_ happened. (_It_ being Shane's father threatening Micah to leave Shane and Blaine alone, or else.) Have this exact situation – which is Micah wanting to talk to Shane for a few days _in a house they had to themselves_ – happen only a few years ago and Shane would have died and gone to heaven. But these days, Shane was just anxious to the bone.

The past few days with Micah weren't _completely_ awkward though. Again, Shane was remembering things about Micah that attracted Shane to him in the first place; like the face Micah made to give away he was lying; or how, when he smiled, the corners of his eyes would crinkle up; or how he had a talent for knowing when something was wrong with Shane. When Shane and Micah talked about what's been going on in their lives since they departed ways, Shane kept on discovering new things about Micah too. He noticed how, when he got uncomfortable, Micah would fuss with his glasses and, when he was really enjoying the conversation, he'd cock his head to the side slightly. That head cock happened often during their conversations too, because Micah was always genuinely interested in what Shane had to say. Which was yet another thing Shane remembered about Micah. They talked about how Shane nearly died, which made Micah reach for his glasses to the point where he had them off his head about every 5 seconds. They talked about how Micah really got into books and travelled across the country searching for specific books and conventions, which lead him to being found by Rebecca and Erin at San Francisco. They talked about a lot of stuff, really – except for love, and their own love lives. But Shane was sure Micah didn't want to talk about that anyway. _Blaine's_ love life, however, was an exception. Shane and Micah gossiped about Blaine and Kurt about half the time they spoke to each other, and Shane made sure he left _nothing_ out as he talked about what he heard and observed.

Micah was quite pleased. "About time Blaine found someone good for him," Shane remembered Micah saying with a warm smile. He remembered easily agreeing with a nod.

It wasn't like they were able to jump into what they had though. When they watched a movie, instead of Shane sitting on Micah's lap, legs stretched across the sofa, they sat next to each other at a safe, though not necessarily comfortable, distance. There were awkward silences for them to fill. When they had their meals together, much of the silence was filled with their utensils hitting their food and plates and both of them saying, "Could you pass me the…?" At one point, it dawned on Shane that the only time they were ever truly comfortable with each other was when they were talking about themselves _separately_ and not them together (or, even better, just not talk about themselves at all). Then again, Shane wasn't sure he _wanted_ to talk about how he and Micah stood now.

When Shane realized this, he thought of all the times he hung out with Reed. Their relationship was, for the most part, fairly awkward, kind of like his and Micah's relationship right now. But at least it was a _good_ awkward. Unlike the silences Shane fell short of filling when he was with Micah now, the quiet moments he shared with Reed were comfortable. (At least, most of the time, when Shane wasn't unintentionally making things harder for the other curly head.) In any case, at least Shane was able to come into physical contact with Reed; Micah actually flinched the one time Shane accidentally brushed his hand from passing the salt at dinner. The awkward relationship Reed and Shane shared was one that didn't stop Reed from putting up with Shane too. It was one that didn't stop the numerous amount of times they ended up accidentally doing something – like Shane losing Reed at the House of Mirrors during the Valentines' Day Fair or ignoring Reed's calls when Shane thought it was Blaine calling (Shane still regrets that, by the way) – but having something good still come out of it. And it was a relationship that certainly didn't stop both of them from confessing their feelings for each other and how they both liked who they were around each other. Shane thought about how much he liked being something like Reed's knight in shining armor, since he was always there to save Reed before he ended up falling into some sort accidental disaster. He also thought about how he liked how Reed basically had him wrapped around his finger, even if Reed didn't know it yet.

"Can-can I come in?" Micah asked cautiously as he knocked again; he realized Shane was taking too long to answer to his earlier knocks.

Shane's thoughts of Reed were interrupted by Micah's voice and his knuckles tapping against the door. He took a deep breath before answering. "Yup…" he said, barely audible, before burying his curly head into his palms.

Micah peeked through the door, finding Shane sitting on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands. "Hey," he said concerned, walking through the door then sitting next to Shane on his bed. "Are you okay?"

Shane combed through his hair with his hands momentarily then looked to his left and found Micah sitting next to him. "Uhhh, yeah," he finally answered. "Perfectly fine," he lied, trying to shrug off his confused thoughts.

Micah raised an eyebrow. "Really Shane? You're gonna lie to me now?" he challenged. Micah _always_ knew when Shane was lying. He remembered how Shane would always shrug off whatever was running through his mind and how he tried to hide his face whenever he was uncomfortable, which was usually done by burying it in his hands. Micah was pleased to learn that none of this changed.

Shane let out a breath he was holding, breaking under the pressure. "Okay, if you _must_ know, I am _not_ okay. Happy?" he answered with a quick, sarcastic smile.

_Silly boy,_ Micah thought as he shook his head. "Shane, you're upset right now; _why would I be happy?_" he asked rhetorically. "Tell me what's going on," demanded, his eyes searching for Shane's.

Shane looked at Micah with pursed lips. He considered Micah for a moment. What would happen if Shane told him what he was _really_ thinking? Would Micah be offended that Shane was thinking of him only moments ago, only to have them result in thinking of Reed? Would he feel terrible and rejected by Shane? Would he get angry and accuse Shane of replacing him with Reed? (This was, of course, certainly not the case – Shane couldn't replace Micah even if he tried. And Reed was _nothing_ like Micah anyway.)

"I –" Shane began, then left his mouth open for the words that wouldn't come out. How do you _begin_ to tell your ex you were thinking of your brother's friend (whom you have a really HUGE crush on) anyway? Shane tried again. "Do-do you remember Reed? The short one with super curly hair?" he asked instead.

Micah nodded. "Yeah, he was standing next to Kurt the entire time, right?" he replied. Shane nodded.

Micah thought back to a few days ago when he first met Shane, Blaine and all of their Dalton friends. He remembered Reed being short, well dressed and only being able to peek at his strawberry blonde curls since he was basically behind – not even next to – Kurt the entire time. Come to think of it, Micah realized Kurt looked very defensive and protective of Reed once Micah introduced himself, which was when Kurt placed himself in front of Reed. He also noticed Kurt always had a careful eye on Micah even after he left the school with Shane.

He briefly wondered why Kurt was so protective of Reed; what was so bad about Micah that could affect him? Micah barely talked to the boy, much less _know_ him, so what could possibly happen? This lack of knowledge on Reed lead to Micah remembering he _did_ know about him, and that was Reed being a very quiet and shy guy. Micah was the one who had to initiate conversation between them.

"Hi," Micah remembered saying, "I'm Micah." He offered his left hand since he was a lefty.

Reed diverted eye contact for a moment before smiling. "I'm Reed," he squeaked, before offering his hand.

_What a charming little thing,_ Micah remembered thinking, amused, as he shook Reed's hand.

_Charm,_ Micah pondered now in front of the younger Anderson. _Is that why Shane's asking me about Reed? Does he need some sort of approval for Reed from me?_

"Well, um…" Shane started again. "I was just – uh – thinking about… him," he quietly finished, looking away.

Micah raised an eyebrow. "Really? What about him?" he wondered. Internally, Micah wondered how deep Shane and Reed's relationship was; if Shane was already thinking about Reed in such a way that he almost seemed embarrassed to say it out loud, Micah guessed that Shane was in deep.

Shane looked into the palms of his hands and blushed cherry red. "Uh… I have – um – a…" Shane stared into his flailing hands, eyebrows scrunching together and his face making various uncomfortable expressions. "I have… a bit of a crush on him…" Shane finally whispered.

Micah raised both his eyebrows. _Interesting,_ he thought. While he wasn't really offended, and while he _was_ correct on Shane having it bad for Reed already, Micah was still a bit surprised. Micah thought about how long Shane knew Reed, which wasn't very long as far as he knew, and realized that Shane was falling hard and fast… again – like Shane did before for him. The short haired boy cocked his head to the side, thinking about how Shane and Reed's relationship almost paralleled his and Shane's.

"Really?" Micah finally asked in reply.

"Yeah," Shane admitted, still looking down at his fidgeting hands and knees.

Shane was extremely uncomfortable about the situation he dug himself into. It wasn't often that you talk to your ex about your current love life with your crush. And, as Shane was now learning, when you do, it's not going to be easy. Shane wondered if Micah was uncomfortable about this too, but realized he probably wasn't (Micah wasn't fidgeting with his glasses). Then, Shane wondered why _he_ was so uncomfortable about talking to Micah about this. He used to tell Micah _everything_ with ease. This should have been no different. Then again, there's the fact that they've been separated for so long and were only able to catch up with what happened to them in the past few years within a few days. Shane thought hard about this for a moment. Was time really such a big factor in their relationship though? Or was it the fact that, perhaps, Shane _did_ get over Micah, no matter how terrible and scarring what happened between was? But Shane was always _so sure_ that there was a place in his heart for Micah, a place where Shane thought he'd always yearn for him. So why would that change _now_, when Micah was finally there with him? Shane continued to stare at his jumping legs as he thought about this.

"And…?" Micah pressed.

Shane stopped moving, Micah's voice snapping him out of his thoughts. "What do you mean, 'And'?" Shane demanded, looking right at Micah.

"I mean, _aaaannnd_ you like him. Soooo, is there anything going on between you two?" Micah asked slowly, trying to make sure that Shane knew he wanted an honest answer from him. He needed that honest answer too, because if Micah was right about Shane having it bad for Reed as bad as he did with him before, then Micah was going to have a bit of trouble for what he had planned.

Shane scratched his curls, not because they were irritating him of course, but because he was picking his brain for an answer. "Well… no, not really," he finally responded, dropping his hand.

Micah nodded slowly. "I see…" Shane raised his eyebrows briskly and looked at Micah with an embarrassed expression before turning away. "So, do you think something might happen any time soon then?" Micah asked carefully. He almost told Shane to say no, but bit his tongue back for Shane's answer.

Shane turned to look at Micah again. He half-braced himself for some sort of argument with Micah, not an interrogation on his and Reed's relationship. Shane stared at Micah with a questioning look. "I-I don't know, actually," he admitted first. "Depends on how long 'any time soon' means, I guess," he amended.

Micah pressed his lips into a thin line before answering, "'Any time soon' as in tomorrow afternoon." Micah only had so much time before Shane had to leave for school again, which meant that he had to leave as well. Whether he was leaving _with_ Shane though, was entirely up to the younger Anderson, and Micah was praying that he _would_ end up going with him.

"Then, probably not," Shane finally confirmed, staying honest. Shane thought about how Reed was about as slow as his brother when it came to romance, not that Shane minded though; he made an exception for Reed. Then another thought occurred to Shane. "Why…?" he asked Micah. Shane realized that the time Micah gave him was the amount of time Shane had left before he had to return to school. _What could Micah possibly want to happen between Reed and me before I left tomorrow?_ Shane wondered.

"Because…" Micah took in a deep breath, unwilling to keep his gaze off Shane. "Because, I want to ask you something," he finally said. _I hope I still have a chance,_ Micah wished, simultaneously trying to remember what he rehearsed earlier to tell Shane what he wanted.

Shane became very suspicious and _careful_ at this, which was completely un-Shane-like. He was sure that what Micah had to ask was nothing like a favour, but a more pressing matter. "Okay…?" he allowed, nodding his head slowly.

Micah tucked in his lips for a moment. "Well," he started, finally able to take his eyes off Shane's, "we've been – together – for the past few days. And, we've been able to, you know, catch up." He turned back to Shane and swallowed. "I know it may not be possible, let alone easy, but… I've _really_ missed you Shane," he admitted; the eyes that gazed through the golden rimmed glasses showed no indication of lying. "And, these past few days, I realized that I _think_ we could still work…"

This much Micah longed to be true. The one time Shane brushed his fingers against his own, Micah flinched because he felt sparks. _Wild_ sparks. Wild sparks that he's never felt with any other guy he's dated. Wild sparks he's never felt since he had Shane. And once those sparks were lit, Micah realized he couldn't take his mind off of Shane anymore. Micah was still in love with Shane Anderson. And now, he just hoped and prayed that Shane still felt the same way about him.

Micah took another breath and braced himself for whatever Shane was able to throw at him once he said his part. "So, I was wondering, if you and Reed didn't – you know – get anywhere, maybe-maybe _we_ could… bring back what we had. And that, maybe, I can go back to Colorado with you s-so we can try?" he finished quietly.

Micah's eyes were careful and searched for an answer through Shane's, which forced Shane to look at his knees. What possibly led Micah on to make him think that he and Shane could still work? What did Shane say to Micah that led him to think this? Shane wasn't offended or sad about it, why would he? The guy he knew he would always have a place in his heart for just asked him out – again! Shane _should have_ been extremely pleased. But that's just the thing: he wasn't, _at all._ Shane just felt confused. (And, quite frankly, he felt like crawling into a hole so he could figure this out on his own, without Micah sitting next to him on his bed, and without having a deadline that was tomorrow.) Shane's entire body frame was shaking because he was so overwhelmed by this, so he took a breath. _Micah wants to go back to Colorado with me,_ he thought, _and he wants to see if we could still work…_ Shane blinked, a bit incredulous; he was _so_ unprepared for this.

"S-so, you want to go to Colorado with me, and see if we can pick up where we left off?" Shane clarified. He glanced at Micah, who was nodding with a nervous look on his face, before looking down at his lap once more. Shane licked his lips and turned back to him. "How are you going to stay there?" he asked, "Won't your parents be concerned?" Shane already knew that Micah living with him was completely out of the question. _If my father saw Micah's face again…_ Shane shuddered at the thought.

"Shane, I already told you how much travelling I've done since we've – separated. My parents don't mind anymore where I end up, as long as I'm alive and still studying," he explained. "I'll rent an apartment or get a condo in Colorado, I guess. Just like you, I already have the means and money to support myself there anyway."

Shane sighed, knees beginning to jitter again, because he knew it was true. "I-I don't know Micah," he finally answered. "I mean, I can't just – Reed… and-and…" Shane wasn't sure how to finish. He mentioned Reed because Shane _did_ care – he cared _a lot_ actually – about Reed, romantically and as a friend. He couldn't just ditch Reed for an old flame. Especially one that Shane wasn't quite sure he knew his feelings about anymore. But Micah's offer was so, _so_ tempting…

The eye glassed boy nodded somberly as he looked away. "Oh… you and Reed are more serious than I thought," he thought out loud; Shane nodded. Micah pursed his lips. "Well," he said, naturally reaching for Shane's hand (Micah was so used to taking Shane's hand before; looks like old habits died hard) and felt those wild sparks again, "you can think about what I said, and then talk to Reed to see where you guys stand," he thought out loud again. "Yeah," he said with a nod, turning to look at Shane, whose gaze was at their joined hands, "you're going back to Dalton anyway to say goodbye to Blaine, so you can talk to Reed tomorrow to see what's going on with you guys. If you feel that, perhaps, there may not be what you thought there was, then, you know, think about what I offered." Micah looked at Shane, trying to decipher what his body language and facial expressions meant, and squeezed the younger Anderson's hand gingerly. "Promise me that, Shane, okay?" he asked.

Shane finally looked up from his and Micah's linked hands. "O-okay," he promised.

Micah gave a small smile to Shane and had an internal debate with himself over whether or not to do something.

"Well, it's late," Micah said, glancing at the clock next to Shane's bed (it read 10:41 pm). "I'll pick you up tomorrow at Dalton if you accept my offer. You won't see me in the morning because I'm gonna be out looking for a few more books," he explained.

Finally, Micah's internal debate ended and he took his chances: he brought his face close to Shane's and kissed Shane gently on his left cheek, just in front of his left ear (Micah still remembered where Shane's hot spots were, and realized he had to exhaust all his options if he really wanted a chance at Shane accepting his offer). Micah's lips almost caressing Shane's skin. His breath was warm and tickled Shane.

"Good night, Shane," Micah whispered into Shane's ear, his lips just brushing the other boy's earlobe, until he finally stepped out of the boy's room and closed the door quietly.

Shane's eyes were wide and his body was perfectly still from Micah's kiss – never mind the fact that it was in one of the spots Shane liked it best. Shane turned red all the way to the roots of his hair. He blinked multiple times to see if he was still living. _Why am I reacting so strongly?_ he wondered to himself. Then he wondered why he was freaking out over reacting strongly. Shane thought it was supposed to be normal for him to freak out over Micah's kiss. So why was he second guessing himself? Then Shane thought back to only a few moments earlier when he thought about not ditching Reed for Micah. He became even more confused now. If he still had feelings for Micah, how could he be with Reed then?

Frustrated, Shane fell back onto his bed, grabbed a pillow and placed it on top of his face to muffle a groan. What was going on with him? What would he tell Blaine, whom he was sure would have strong opinions over what Shane was thinking? What would he tell Kurt, who Shane knew would eventually find out from Blaine? And worse, _what would he tell Reed?_

-x-

Kurt stood by his dorm's door and looked at his roommate. He smiled slightly; Reed was painting another Shane inspired picture on the floor next to his bed.

Thinking of Shane, Kurt's smiled dissolved immediately. He remembered the day of the fair, when Rebecca, Erin and Micah showed up. Don't get him wrong, Kurt was completely ecstatic for the Andersons, finally able to be reunited with their old friends – but Kurt still feared for Reed. As one of his best friends, after the Fabulous Five departed for the night, Kurt felt obligated to tell Reed what happened between Micah and Shane, so he did. Reed burst into tears. Kurt felt so bad for him, but he told Reed that at least he was able to know exactly who he wanted now.

"B-but, what if-if Shane choo-chooses him over m-me?" Kurt remembered Reed asking, trying to hold back his sobs even though tears were already falling.

"Oh Reed," Kurt remembered responding sympathetically, and walked over to hug the smaller boy. "Why would he _not_ choose you?" he remembered asking quietly. Without waiting for an answer, Kurt continued. "Of _course_ he'd choose you," he murmured softly, silently praying to whoever was out there to make it true as he stroked Reed's back. Reed sniffed.

Over the past few days, Shane visited Dalton and explained the situation between him and Micah. Micah was crashing at the Anderson's vacation home in Ohio until Shane went back to school in Colorado. Whether or not Micah was going with Shane back to Colorado, however, no one knew. And that's what worried Reed, Kurt, Blaine and even some of their friends who knew about the situation (i.e. Wes, David, the Twins, and Dwight), the most. They all wanted Shane happy, but they couldn't just forget about how Reed felt about him either.

When Shane wasn't at Dalton, Reed devoted his time to his future career. As a result of feeling hopeless, Reed initially decided to focus on his art rather than his current love life and Shane. But that backfired since his artwork became Shane. Reed sketched whatever reminded him of Shane, he painted Shane often, and he even tried using new medium that revolved around Shane to create 3D art.

Reed looked up from his current painting and saw Kurt leaning against their room's door. "Uh, hi," he said with a sheepish smile, trying to find things to cover his painting without ruining it. He was momentarily embarrassed for having Kurt find him creating _yet another piece of artwork_ involving the younger Anderson.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Kurt said running over to where Reed was. After he sat down in front of the artist, Kurt pushed away Reed's hands and the things that were covering his painting. "I already know this is about Shane; don't destroy it," Kurt warned.

Reed gulped and turned pink. "It's Shane's last day tomorrow," Reed started, "Do-do you think he's gonna leave with Micah?"

Kurt looked away, afraid that his eyes might betray him to Reed. Kurt didn't want to lie to him, but he knew that if he told Reed he wasn't sure what was going to happen, it wouldn't help. "I-I don't _think_ so…" he confessed.

Kurt turned back to Reed, who looked like he was at the corner of Heartbroken Drive and Hurt Avenue. Kurt realized Reed was able to see through his words; Reed saw that Kurt had absolutely no idea what would happen. And this didn't help at all, because Reed was dead set on Shane ending up with Micah rather than with him.

"Oh Reed," he said sympathetically, bringing his arms around the smaller boy. "Don't think like that. I may not know what's gonna happen, but that doesn't mean Shane's going to ditch you for Micah. Shane's got a mind of his own, and if it's anything like Blaine's, he'll do what is right for him in the end," he explained. Kurt pushed himself off of Reed to looked at the boy, "And I think what's right for him is you, got that?" Kurt smiled hopefully.

Reed wiped away a tear that fell and smiled back. "I hope so," he finally admitted. Reed sighed. "Kurt, what am I going to do?" he looked to the other boy for desperate advice.

Kurt bit his lip. He knew exactly what to do – though, Reed probably wasn't gonna like it. Actually, he wasn't going to like it _at all._ But Kurt didn't give a damn about that. He knew that what he had in mind would probably be the best thing for both Reed and Shane, because why hold back if you could go all out?

"Well, what do you think _I'd_ do?" Kurt asked in response.

Reed looked confused. "I guess-I guess you'd sing about it," he finally answered. Kurt looked at Reed with a raised eyebrow. "OH!" Reed finally realized. "You-you want me to _sing_ to him?" Reed asked, hoping desperately he was wrong. Kurt nodded. "B-but… I can't! – no really… I…"

Kurt shut Reed up by placing his hand over Reed's mouth. Reed was still mumbling something before Kurt said, "Ah, no! I don't want to hear it Reed!" Kurt looked at the curly haired boy sternly. "You _can_ sing. You've sung _with_ Shane and _in front_ of Shane before anyway. The only difference now is that the lyrics will _really_ mean something to you, if not the both of you. You _have_ to tell Shane how you feel, before Micah makes a move," Kurt pointed out. "Besides, Shane would probably love that you sang to him anyway."

Kurt slowly removed his hand from Reed, preparing it to slap itself over his mouth again if it continued to protest. Reed opened his mouth for a moment to rebut what Kurt told him but he knew Kurt was right. It was probably better he sing his feelings like he did before anyway. Reed then turned away for a moment, realizing something.

"Oh my gosh," he whispered, making Kurt instantly concerned about what his friend was thinking. "I – uh – actually have a song in mind…" Reed quietly admitted.

Kurt's face brightened just as fast as it became alarmed. "Really?" he asked as he held back an excited smile, trying to sound anything but incredibly thrilled because he knew he was right – again.

Reed nodded, blushing, before turning back to Kurt. "Yeah. But, I kinda need the Warbler's help on this one," he confided, then began to tell Kurt his idea.

Once Kurt heard Reed's idea, he ran out of his room and slammed open his boyfriend's door as he screamed, "BLAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIINE!"

Blaine looked alarmed and ran over to his boyfriend. "Kurt, KURT! What's going on?" he asked anxiously.

Once he was able to calm Kurt down in order to figure out what was happening, Blaine saw the smirk Kurt was wearing and realized that something diabolical was going down. (Which wasn't uncommon, of course, in the Windsor house.) Though, Blaine was somewhat afraid since _his boyfriend_ – the only other sane student in the house besides Charlie and himself – was giddy over something that involved a huge plan. But Blaine's worries were wasted since he realized that he really loved the idea Reed came up with, as told by Kurt. And so, at 11:01 pm that night, one nervous boy and two excited ones called and texted every Warbler available as they began to plot for the next day.

-x-

Shane stepped out of the cab and onto the school's front grounds late morning the next day. Already waiting for him was Blaine, who was waving happily as the twins ran up to him and pushed him forward.

Shane was dumbfounded by what they were doing. "Uh, hi – guys…" he said in between breaths since he was basically running towards Blaine by this point.

"Hello –" Ethan began.

"– Shane," Evan finished.

They stopped pushing him by the time they got to Shane's brother. "Here he is!" Ethan declared.

"Now can we _please_ go and do what we need to do?" Evan begged.

Blaine laughed. "Getting you guys to do something _we want_ instead of what _you want_ is totally hilarious! And worth it!"

Evan glared. "We only did it because –"

"– we _had_ to!" Ethan snarled.

Blaine chuckled again before nodding the boys off, who sprinted to the Windsor dorms faster than anyone Shane's ever known. "What was _that_ all about?" he asked his older sibling.

"They're doing… something," Blaine simply said, looking to where the boys ran. "Let's go in," he finally said, looking at Shane, then began to walk towards the main hall.

Shane didn't follow his brother. "Why aren't we going to Windsor?" Shane asked, suspicious.

Blaine sighed, turned around and pulled his brother along with him into the main hall. "Shane, think about it," he started as they entered the building. "Ethan and Evan are in Windsor house doing '_something'_ – do you really want to go in there and find out what they're up to?" he finally asked. Shane considered it for a moment and then decided it was probably best to follow his brother. "Besides, I gotta talk to you privately about Micah before we head in there," Blaine said.

_Damn it,_ Shane thought. He was still having trouble over what Micah told him and how he reacted to Micah's good night kiss the night before. Shane began to make various uncomfortable faces, but Blaine ignored it for the meantime because he was already well aware of how weird his brother was.

"So," Blaine began, "how are you and Micah?"

Blaine knew that there was a definite possibility of Micah joining Shane on his flight back home, much to his dismay. Blaine really _was_ okay with Shane dating Micah before – but, again, that was before. And now Blaine had to worry about Reed and how involved Shane was with him. Blaine was really hoping (and, to be honest, half expecting) his brother was better than leaving Reed high and dry for a guy from his past.

"Uh-um, I, uhhh…" Shane stuttered before he started to hyperventilate. He honestly wasn't sure of his answer. With what happened between him and Micah the night before still at the front of his mind, Shane couldn't shake the feeling that he could _still_ like Micah – even though he was absolutely _sure_ he was falling for Reed.

Blaine glanced at his brother: he was jittering like crazy and was flushed.

"Shane, what's going on?" Blaine questioned, concerned.

Shane took a deep breath. "Well…" he began, then began to freak out in a matter no less than a childish fit. Shane threw his arms high into the air and began flailing. "Micah told me last night he wants to go to Colorado with me because he wants to go back to the way things were with us but he wants me to talk to Reed about it first and then he kissed me good night and I don't know how to feel about it!" Shane blurted out in one breath; his hands were dragging down his face by the time he finished his story. Shane looked to his older brother for advice, or anything really, that would help him out.

Blaine was expecting something along the lines of "I broke an antique again, Blaine!" or even "Blaine, I burnt down the house!" Nothing prepared the older boy for what his brother just confided with him. _Jeez, Shane,_ Blaine thought to himself, _How do you keep getting yourself _into_ these kinds of situations?_ Blaine shook his head; he knew it was a mystery he wouldn't figure out in this lifetime.

Trying to clear some things out, Blaine said, "Okay, wait. So, Micah said he wants to go with you to Colorado because he wants to see if things can go back to the way they were with you and him, yes?" Shane nodded, freaking out even more. "And then he said he wants you to talk to Reed about it?" he asked a bit confused. Blaine didn't even know Shane and Micah were discussing Reed.

Shane nodded again, a little embarrassed this time. "I-I, uh, kinda told him that there was something going on between Reed and me…" he muttered quietly, trailing off.

Blaine nodded this time and said, "Good. At least he knows there's someone else." Blaine continued to repeat what his brother said earlier, "Okay, so then he gave you a good night kiss?" Shane nodded slowly and looked as if he was on the verge on tears. "Where did he kiss you?" he demanded. Shane pointed to his left cheek, just in front of his ear. _A kiss on the cheek isn't _that_ bad, _Blaine thought. Had it been a full on kiss, however, and Blaine knew he wouldn't have been as calm. "Okay. So, what's wrong?"

Shane groaned and placed his head into his hands, covering the one angry tear that fell from the edge of his eye. "Blaine, don't you get it? I'm freaking out because he _kissed_ me and I'm freaking out over freaking out! Oh jeez, I make no sense!" Shane almost screamed, his entire body shaking.

In the distance, both the boys heard footsteps sprinting away and looked toward where they came from. _Bailey's probably late for what we have planned,_ Blaine thought, shrugging off whoever heard his conversation with his brother. He turned back to Shane. Seeing his brother not paying attention to whoever ran away, Shane also turned back to face the older sibling.

Blaine scoffed. "Shane, you don't make sense _half_ the time I talk to you," he reminded. Shane bobbed his head from side to side as he considered this. "Besides," Blaine continued, "why are you freaking out over freaking out?" Blaine looked up to his eyebrows with a confused look on his face for a moment; he realized that he was beginning to make little sense as well.

"Because! I shouldn't freak out over the fact that Micah kissed me because it means that I'm not over him. Even though I should be, because I _really_ like Reed!" Shane exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air again. Like he told Blaine, he really didn't _want_ to be reacting like this towards Micah, because that meant he might still have strong feelings for him. Which couldn't happen because Shane already had the same feelings towards Reed. _What have I gotten myself into?_ Shane thought to himself.

Blaine thought carefully about this. "Well, are you freaking out over the fact that he _actually_ kissed you or are you freaking out over _how you felt_ after he kissed you?" he asked wisely.

At this, Shane stopped flapping his arms in the air, dropped them and stood still. The younger boy thought for a moment. _Was_ he freaking out because Micah kissed him goodnight? Or was it because he _felt_ something after he did? _Did he_ even feel something after Micah kissed him? Shane's eyebrows bunched together as he thought about this.

"I-I guess I was freaking out because he kissed me," Shane finally realized.

"Then there you go. That kiss doesn't actually _mean_ something to you, does it?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shane looked down and blinked a few times before he finally answered, "No. I guess not."

_Thank god,_ Blaine thought. Blaine knew he wasn't prepared for what would happen if the kiss _did_ mean something to his little brother. "Then you have no reason to freak out over freaking out, little brother," the wiser Anderson declared with a smile.

Shane looked up and smiled back in thanks. "Yeah… yeah you're right!" Shane agreed with a nod.

Blaine was pleased with this turn out. "So, does that mean you're gonna let Micah tag along with you when you go back home?" he asked.

"No!" Shane said happily. The younger Anderson shook his head proudly.

With a smug smile, Blaine finalized, "Good."

"Thanks, bro!" Shane said and man-hugged Blaine. He was so relieved to finally sort out all of his confusion.

"Anytime dude," Blaine replied. He felt a buzz in his pocket and guessed that the message was about everything being ready for what they had planned. After releasing Shane from their embrace, Blaine took out his phone and saw the message, _We're all set! –K._

"Well, it's time to say your goodbyes to everyone," Blaine told Shane as he stuffed his cellphone back into his pocket. Shane nodded ahead of him, indicating that his brother lead the way.

As the Andersons stepped into Windsor, Reed sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his hands and breathing heavy from the running he just did to grab a few Stuarts. He was also breathing heavy because he just heard that Micah kissed Shane. Reed didn't mean to hear it, really! He was just grabbing the last few Warblers (i.e. Logan and Bailey) from the other houses who weren't already at Windsor. The Stuarts were way ahead of him by the time Reed heard Shane saying, "I'm freaking out because he _kissed_ me and I'm freaking out over freaking out!" At the words "kissed me", Reed almost tripped, making Reed have a few audible, clobbering steps before getting into the rhythm of running quietly again. He didn't know whether to cry, curse himself or freak out over what he just heard.

Kurt came into the room. "Reed, it's –" he was brightly announcing, before pausing as he looked at his friend. "– show time. Hey, what's going on?" Kurt asked, getting concerned.

Reed shrugged off the question and took a deep breath. "N-nothing," Reed replied as he turned to Kurt, praying that his eyes weren't going to betray him.

Kurt was about to interrogate Reed to ask him what was going on before he heard Dwight _ca-caw_ing a few rooms over, signaling that Blaine and Shane were in Windsor already and were about to approach their dorm. Kurt shot Reed a look that meant "We're not done with this yet" and sat down in the corner, taking out a text book. Slightly afraid, Reed looked down to his hands again.

A few rooms over, Reed heard the conversation between Dwight and Shane.

"Why are you making bird calls?" Shane asked with a snicker.

Dwight stopped making the signal for a moment before replying in an obvious tone, "I'm trying to ward away the morning spirits." This, Reed knew, was true – which was why they chose Dwight as the one to make the crazy, unsuspected signal.

Reed heard Shane's adorable laugh. "Awesome!" he said. Soon, Reed heard sounds which sounded like his hand rubbing against his jeans, or like something being pulled out of pocket. "I still have the pendulum you gave me," Shane told Dwight.

"Good!" Dwight replied. "Always have it on you, okay?" he demanded.

"Always have, always will, dude," Shane replied, making sounds that were similar to one putting something in a pocket. Then, the sounds of a hug were made. "I'll see you around, Dwight," Shane finally said, before adding, "just don't bring your cross and bow when I do, okay?" This time, Dwight laughed.

After leaving Dwight's room for his goodbye, Shane stepped in front of the twins' dorm and braced himself. Of all the rooms he's been to so far for his goodbye, this was the one he actually feared for his physical wellbeing. Before Shane even grabbed the knob, Ethan opened the door, pulled Shane in and pushed to him a Nerf gun. It took a moment for Shane to realize he had to use it, but figured it out too late and dropped his weapon by accident.

At this, he heard Evan scream, "His gun's down! GET HIM!" and Shane felt what seemed like dozens of soft bullets being shot at him.

Shane picked up his weapon and ducked for cover behind a bed James Bond style. Peaking over it, he saw Ethan shoot at him but just barely missed as Shane was able to duck in time. After a moment, Shane yelled a battle cry and began to shoot his Nerf gun at every angle towards where the Twins' giggles. When Shane realized he was out of ammo, he looked over the bed once more and found himself staring at two pairs of legs – one belonging to Ethan and the other belonging to Evan. The identical boys chuckled evilly before shooting at Shane with every bullet they had left, leaving Shane to flail on the floor wildly as he laughed his ass off.

"You _suck_ at controlling the amount of ammo you have!" Evan laughed.

"At least we have bullets to shoot you with!" Ethan teased.

By the end of the unfair shoot out, the boys helped Shane off the ground and hugged him tightly in a bone crushing three-way bear hug. "Now, you gotta go see the Dormouse," Ethan chanted.

"He's in Alice's room, across the hall!" Evan chirped.

And the boys pushed Shane out of their room. Shane was laughing so hard at the amount of intense fun they had in the short amount of time. Blaine rolled his eyes and pushed his brother by the shoulders towards Kurt and Reed's room.

Finally able to get a grip of himself, Shane stepped in front of the last dorm he had to go to in the house. He looked to his brother to make sure it was okay; Blaine nodded and Shane pushed open the door to Kurt and Reed's room.

"Shane!" Kurt greeted happily, putting his book away and getting out of his seat to hug him. "Going back to Colorado already?" he asked with a sad smile.

Shane smiled back. "Yeah, couldn't convince Blaine that I belonged here," he said, glancing at his brother. Blaine put a hand to his face in frustration; Shane and Kurt laughed at this.

"Ha ha, yeah. You _would_ belong here, you crazy guy," Kurt agreed as he ruffled Shane's hair.

Shane smiled brightly before peeking behind Kurt's shoulder, finding Reed sitting in his bed, looking at his hands.

Kurt caught where Shane's eyes were headed and smirked at his boyfriend, who was standing behind Shane. "Hey, Blaine, we should get going!" Kurt suggested.

Blaine smiled at Kurt. "Yeah! Let's go to my room for a moment, okay?" he said after he licked his lips and took Kurt's hand to lead the way out.

As Kurt was being led out of his room, he mouthed a "good luck" at Shane. Turning back to Blaine, Kurt bit his lip and giggled evilly. Shane made a questioning look in response but didn't stop smiling. _Those two are sooooo gonna make out in Blaine's room,_ he concluded with a chuckle. After taking a deep breath, he walked to Reed's bed and sat next to him.

Shane playfully elbowed Reed's arm. "Hey," he said, trying to get a better look at Reed's face since he didn't face him.

Reed turned to Shane for a moment. "Hi," he replied glumly before looking at his hands again.

Shane was immediately concerned. "Hey, is there something wrong?" he asked, gently placing his hand on the crook of Reed's elbow.

Reed glanced at Shane's hand on his arm. Despite the fact that he wanted to squeal at the touch, he remembered what he heard earlier and stared at his hands again. "No," he lied quietly.

Shane knew Reed better than that though. "Reed, are you sure?" he asked tentatively.

"Yeah," Reed said again trying to make his answer believable. He was also trying to show that he knew nothing of what the Andersons discussed only minutes earlier.

"I don't believe you, Reed," Shane pried, moving from his spot to squat in front of the boy. Something was definitely wrong, and Reed wouldn't tell him. Therefore, Shane thought, it was probably _about_ him. "Come on, you know you can tell me anything," he reminded the shorter boy with a small grin, looking up to find his eyes.

_What was Reed so upset about?_ Shane thought. Was Reed sad that he was leaving again? Was he expecting Shane to come back broken, _again,_ remembering the last time they had to say a long goodbye? Shane blinked furiously. _That's probably it!_ Shane realized. Reed was upset that he might not see Shane again, because the last time they had a long departure, Shane returned to him from a close encounter with death. Who _knows_ what the possibilities of that happening again were, especially with Shane's clumsiness? But Shane didn't want to take that chance. It was then he made a promise to himself that he would try to be more careful, for Reed's sake more than his own.

Reed considered Shane for a moment. He didn't want to say goodbye to Shane by dropping the bomb that he knew about his and Micah's kiss, but what choice did he have? If Reed didn't tell Shane _now_, he would end up telling Kurt later. And Kurt, of course, wouldn't just allow Reed to be holding all of it in. And then, because of that, Kurt would probably force Shane to come back to Dalton so Kurt could give him a piece of his mind. Reed didn't want that to happen to Shane. He didn't want that to happen to Blaine either, because Reed knew that _Blaine_ would be the one who would have to solve their problems. And Reed didn't want that to happen to Blaine _and_ Kurt because they were just beginning to ease back into their relationship. _I can't have that happen,_ Reed thought with a gulp, _Especially if I could prevent that fiasco from happening now._

Reed blinked. "Fine, there _is_ something wrong," he confessed, still not willing to make eye contact with the guy squatting in front of him.

"Tell me then," Shane insisted. What was going on?

Reed licked his lips and took a breath. "I-I heard what you and Blaine were talking about earlier," he started, and Shane turned as pale as a blank sheet of paper. Reed saw Shane's reaction and thought, _Great, I wasn't supposed to know._ "Yeah," he continued, trying to stay strong, before finally looking down to meet Shane's horrified gaze. "Micah kissed you?"

Shane crumpled his face. He was so wrong, _so completely wrong._ _No, no, no!_ he thought. _This isn't supposed to happen!_ "W-well, yeah, he did," he finally admitted. "But it was only a kiss on the cheek! I swear to God Reed, I was gonna tell you and –"

Reed held up a hand at Shane. "I don't wanna hear it Shane. You said you freaked out when he kissed you, so that means you still have fairly strong feelings about Micah…" he said, voice cracking by the end of it.

Reed felt terrible for acknowledging this, especially out loud. He heard Shane say he freaked out when Micah kissed him – on the cheek; Reed didn't even get the chance to look at Shane lips that way. If Shane reacted to Micah like this from a simple kiss on the cheek, how would he react if they became a couple again? Shane would be ecstatic, walking on air. And Reed doubted that he could make Shane happy like that. Besides, who knows what Shane would have thought of Reed's kissing skills, or lack of it anyway? And now, Reed wouldn't even get the chance to ever find out because Shane still liked Micah.

Shane dropped his head and sighed. He wasn't able to deny that he _did_ freak out. "Well, okay, I _did_ freak out. But it was only a little!" he exclaimed with his arms beginning to flail, trying to save himself. Since he began to flail though, Shane ended up losing his balance and fell butt first onto the floor. Pulling himself together so he could actually _look_ believable, Shane lifted up his knee while keeping the other firm on the ground to stay balanced. He turned back to Reed, "Reed, seriously, I –"

"Just stop, Shane," Reed commanded firmly, trying to keep himself together – at least until after Shane left. "You don't have to explain yourself anymore," he said, looking straight across Shane's hair to the wall behind him.

Crushed, Shane sighed and got up, doing his best not to have Reed see him because he was on the verge of tears. _It wasn't supposed to happen this way… _he thought sadly. Reed wouldn't even give him the chance to explain himself; he didn't give Shane the benefit of the doubt. When Shane thought of this, he realized how much he was worth to Reed, which was clearly not enough if he couldn't even get the _chance_. _I could never be good enough for him anyway,_ Shane thought sadly as he walked towards the door.

Shane held the knob to exit the room before he said, "You know, Micah said that, if _we_ didn't work out, he'd come back with me to Colorado to see if we could pick up where we left off. He told me to talk to you about it, but I guess there's nothing _to_ talk about now…" Shane sighed heavily. "I was going to tell him no, Reed, but now…" Shane's voice cracked, "now, I don't know…" Shane sniffed, blinking away the tears that weren't supposed to come, and opened the door. He turned his head slightly after opening the door, glancing back at Reed. "I'll-I'll see you later, Reed." _Or not,_ Shane corrected himself afterwards.

Surprised by what he just heard, Reed stood from his bed and turned towards Shane. Reed was so confused now. Shane _didn't_ want to go back to Colorado with Micah? Then why was he freaking out over Micah kissing him? Reed wanted to ponder about this more but realized he didn't have the time since Shane was stepping out his room.

"Wait, Shane!" he called out. "Y-you were gonna tell Micah no?"

Shane stopped walking but didn't turn around at the voice he loved to hear. "Yeah… but, now I'm not sure because… because…" He took a deep breath for what he never wanted to say. "Because now I don't know if you want me enough for me to push him away."

Reed was baffled by this information. All the while, Reed thought that _Shane wanted Micah_, not that _Reed_ didn't want Shane _enough_. Reed wanted Shane _plenty,_ that's why he pushed Shane away, because he'd rather that Shane stay with someone who could make him happy than be stuck with him. But if Shane didn't feel that way _at all_ about Micah, and felt that _he_ wasn't good enough for Reed, did that mean…? The strawberry blonde took a breath. Reed wasn't sure. Then again, Reed may not have known about a lot of things – but he was sure about Shane, and he was sure that Shane would help him figure it all out. Even if that took forever and a day, Reed wouldn't want to give it up. He wouldn't even consider it, unless Shane didn't want him back. Which, because of the new information Reed just found out, was completely not the case.

Shane took Reed's excruciatingly long silence as a dismissal and began to walk away again.

At the sight of Shane walking away, Reed began to shake. _This wasn't how it was supposed to go,_ he thought frantically, _but I guess some plans just gotta start early…_

"_Wait,_" he began to sing, cracking a bit. Reed cleared his voice, "_don't go. There's something I need you to know._"

Reed knew this was _so_ not the way he wanted things to go – that is, acapella, and too raw for it to actually sound good. Reed's original idea was that he led Shane to the hallway, just before their last hug goodbye, and the rest of the Warblers would already be out there waiting for him to begin singing. Their arrangement called for an epic mixture of the Warblers harmonizing and scatting with Blaine's guitar, making sure they sounded as close to the original song as possible without having to get an actual instrumental. Most (okay, _ALL_) of their practice was done early that morning, so they weren't as tight as they usually were. But it was an emergency, and the Warblers had to stick together.

Still, the amount of practice Reed had with the rest of the glee club was now going to waste because he had to begin so much earlier than they anticipated. But maybe the imperfections and flaws that began this performance just made everything that little bit more _real._ And Reed knew he had to make sure he was as sincere as possible so that Shane knew Reed was singing the truth.

At the sound of Reed's soft, almost angelic voice singing, Shane turned back to him with a questioning face. "W-well…?" he asked.

"Um, it's just – uh – it's kinda – I wanna just, um… shoot," Reed said exasperated. "_I don't know,_" he finally sang. Reed was actually a bit happy that he was actually able to use the line, though he made sure his facial expression made Shane think otherwise.

Shane didn't even say anything that time; he just shook his head incredulously at what Reed was doing. He turned around and began to walk away. (Although, Shane couldn't help but find it incredibly adorable for Reed to be fumbling over words like that. It was almost enough for him to want to turn around for a split second.)

"_Just wait!_" Reed sang again, louder, catching Shane's attention once more and moving fast to prevent him from walking past his door any further. "_Give me a minute,_" he continued, walking towards Shane, "_My head's confused but I know there's something in it._"

Reed clasped his hand around Shane's, almost missing for a moment because he was so distracted from his beating heart (which was beating as fast as a hummingbird's wing). This made Reed hold on even tighter to Shane's hand just because of that near-miss. The taller boy looked back and forth from his hand linked with Reed's and Reed's face, his other hand flapping slightly from the excitement. Reed was too busy looking up to memorize Shane's face through his curled lashes to notice though.

"_Won't you stay? Please stay, until I get it clear,_" Reed asked, simultaneously singing what he felt.

Shane looked at Reed with narrow eyes. "What-what are you trying to say?" he asked, curiously, as he listened to the interesting lyrics.

Reed smirked, almost thinking that this was a dream since Shane asked the question he needed to ask before Reed sang again. Originally, he planned for Blaine to "casually" bud in and ask, "Hey, Reed, what are you tryna say to Shane?" Which was now useless because Shane just asked the question he needed to hear.

"_What I'm tryna say is,_" Reed sang with a toothy grin, "_I'd feel much better if you would stay here!_" Reed shrugged as he looked up to stare into Shane's bright eyes, hoping that what he felt would be seen through his own. At this, Reed could feel courage and confidence he had never felt before building inside of him.

It was then Shane was able to see through Reed's beckoning eyes: this was simply how Reed really felt about him. Shane blinked several times. Reed was actually serenading him with a song about how he truly felt for him! Shane couldn't contain his joy and smiled, looking deep into Reed's eyes.

Reed grabbed Shane's other, flapping hand with his free one – confidence, and now certainty, continuing to build inside of him – and looked down at their linked hands. The gesture immediately calmed down Shane in a way that he's never felt before.

"_Even though I was blind before, I realized there is so much more. And it was always deep down in the core of me – I know it now,_" Reed sang with a nod, confirming that the lyrics were the sincere truth. Behind Shane, he could hear a guitar playing. Both boys peeked over Shane's shoulder and found Blaine beginning to strum on his guitar along with Reed's singing, "_And even though it seems too much to take, there's a feeling I can't seem to shake!_" Reed looked back at Shane as he bounced in beat on "shake", then continued to sing, "_I feel like I am reading the signs `cause you know that I'm…_" Blaine strummed once for a lasting note. "_… coming around!_" And then the guitarist began to play a building rhythm.

Shane looked around him and realized that the other boys were coming out of their rooms, smiling as they watched what was unfolding. A few of them began to scat a few "dum dum da dum"s, adding more bass and rhythm to the acoustic music, which were immediately followed by many others humming a soft, calm melody in harmony. It was then Shane realized that everyone there was a Warbler; he recognized most of the faces from the Winter Festival. He blushed a deep, deep crimson and looked down briefly before staring at Reed again to avoid everyone's gazes. But even though he did care that the others were scrutinizing his and Reed's every movement now, he still couldn't help but focus on the fact that Reed was _singing his feelings_ for him.

Reed gulped and looked down at his and Shane's joined hands. He got this far, now he just had to finish. "_I thought I wanted someone perfect as could be,_" he glanced at Shane with a small smile before looking down again. "_When what I needed was the one who was perfect for me!_" At this, Reed blushed scarlet and looked back at the taller boy, simultaneously weaving his fingers through Shane's.

This much, Reed knew was true: while he was often confused about what he wanted, Reed knew that Shane _was_ actually perfect for him, and that Shane was _exactly_ was Reed wanted. They were similar in a way that they would always get into some sort of disastrous accident, but they were also able to save each other for the same reason. Crazy as Shane was, Reed already lost count of how many times Shane picked Reed up before he tripped. And, of course, Reed, being the calm one, was able to control Shane's craziness in a positive way. There was also the fact that Shane was the inspiration of many of Reed's artwork. And the fact that Reed was able to find out things about himself he never thought about before, which was only possible because of Shane's guidance – and Reed was thankful for that.

Around them, half the Warblers began to harmonize in background vocals, "_Ooh, sha la la la la, ooh!_" as others continued to hum the calming melody.

Reed grinned at Shane. "_Even though it used to seem so wrong, I've taken you for granted far too long,_" he sang and took a step closer to Shane, making the shortening to distance between them. "_We're falling right into the dénouement and now I'm breaking ground._" By now, his and Shane's chests was an inch away from brushing against each other.

The Warblers began to split up their vocals even further; some continued with their "sha la la la"s while others began to sing in harmony with Reed.

"_Even though I felt it from the start, it's only now we're beating with one heart! I'm sure that now is the time `cause you know that I'm…_" Reed sang, almost certain that his voice was getting lost with the rest of the Warblers'. But with the fierce look Shane was giving him, Reed was sure that his voice was the only one Shane heard. And that made Reed's tummy do somersaults.

The Warblers brought the volume of their singing down dramatically and Blaine continued to strum his guitar. Having a feeling this was the only break in the song he was gonna get, Shane asked, "Is this how you _really_ feel about me?" Across Shane's face was toothy grin because he was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that this song perfectly portrayed how Reed felt about him.

Reed looked down at their hands then looked up again with a bright smile. "Yeah, it is," he replied, confidence he never had before still radiating through him.

"Reed…" Shane began, tilting his head slightly, "I-I don't know what to say!"

The strawberry blonde smiled sweetly. "Neither did I – so I chose to sing it, just for you." He inched closer to Shane, removing his hands from Shane's grip to slide them onto his shoulders, making Shane wrap his arms around Reed's tiny waist. He looked up to press their foreheads together until –

"Shane?" a familiar voice called out. Every boy in the hall turned to the direction of the voice, and the Warblers stumbled a bit over the music they were supposed to hold down before getting together again almost effortlessly. No one seriously knew who came in.

Shane's eyes widened as he stepped away from Reed to turn to see where the voice came from. "Micah! I - !"

Micah shook his head at the curly haired duo, but smiled as he did so. "I came in to see if you talked to Reed and to _hopefully_ pick _you_ up. But it seems like you've decided what you've wanted, Shane." Micah smiled and looked at Reed. "Take care of him for me, would you?"

Reed blinked rapidly before nodding, completely surprised and thrown off-guard. As Micah began to extract himself from the interesting performance, Reed called him out. "Hey Micah!" he said, "Thank you."

Reed gave the other boy an apologetic smile. Micah nodded at him before continuing to walk away. _Shane's in good hands now,_ he thought, thinking of how carefully Reed held Shane. _ I guess Shane really _doesn't_ need me anymore,_ Micah realized as he exited the school. Micah may have just left part of his heart with Shane, but at least now he knew that it would stay safe with him because he was able to love someone else – and that gave Micah tons of hope for himself.

"Oh my god!" Shane exclaimed, wrapping his arms tight around Reed's waist to spin him around, unable to contain his happiness. After the spin, he loosened his grip on the small boy (who was delightfully laughing his head off) but left one sturdy arm on his waist, where Shane was determined to keep there from now on. Shane brought up his other hand and used it to carefully cup Reed's face. Reed's face was warm and soft – and red at the moment, since he started to blush some more.

Reed couldn't stop smiling. "I-I guess you're finally mine," he declared, pride exuding his entire body.

Shane bit his lip and nodded. Finally, he closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips against Reed's. The entire hall was filled with cheers and hollers as Blaine played an epic guitar solo.

In the distance, Reed could hear someone groaning "FINALLY!" coming from someone who sounded exactly like Logan. Hearing this, Reed smiled into the kiss.

Blaine looked at Kurt, who was standing next to him, clapping for the both of them. Kurt looked back at Blaine and gave him a small peck on the cheek. "We did pretty good," Kurt whispered into Blaine's ear. Blaine nodded with a smile, and began strumming a beat meaning that the song was about to end.

Hearing Blaine's guitar playing another lasting strum of chords, Reed reluctantly pulled away his lips from Shane with a smile. "_I'm coming around!_" he ended, singing his heart out.

At the last strum of Blaine's guitar, Reed jumped at Shane, wrapped his arms around his neck and crushed his lips against Shane's once more. This resulted in the entire hall being filled with cheers once again and the Twins finally breaking out with what they had planned: a bunch of confetti being shot in the air through their bigger Nerf guns (courtesy of David of Wes, of course) and silly string being sprayed directly at the kissing couple. It was wild and crazy and embarrassing, but neither Reed nor Shane wanted it any other way.

* * *

><p>Oh my God, how I would fangirl myself to death if this actually happened! :'D So yeah, I hope someone out there actually likes my take on what should happen between Shane, Reed and Micah. Oh, and the song that Reed sang was StarKid's MAMD version of "Even Though". Darren Criss has a version too, but it's slightly different to this one. But yeah, review, fave, and all that fun stuff! :)<p>

x o x o bjaarcy

PS This is the longest piece I have _EVER_ written. I'm actually quite happy that I finished ALIVE X'D


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